1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to explosive devices and, in particular, to a new and useful design for multimaterial liners for shaped charge devices. A method of manufacture is also disclosed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to utilize specially shaped charge liners in explosive devices which, upon detonation of the explosive device, break up into individual particulate projectiles. A majority of the shaped charge liner designs in current use are liners fabricated from a single liner material. Notable exceptions are U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,813 which is a shaped charge liner with an isotropic coating; U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,350 which described a liner having two metal layers which have been metallurigically bonded by explosion welding; U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,830 showing a liner with the addition of a lethal material in an annular grove on the exterior wall; U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,367 which describes a method of selecting materials for multi-layer liners and application Ser. No. 153,817 filed May 19, 1980 showing two liners contiguously joined so as to form two metallic jets. All of these liners consist of two liners of different materials but of similar geometry and joined together such that the inner surface of one liner is in direct contact with the outer surface of the liner of the second material. This concept could, of course, be extended to include more than two layers and more than two materials. Typically, these metal liners are mated together by a simple press fit and bonded with an adhesive or by first explosively bonding the two materials together as plate stock and then cold forming the final liner.
Multimaterial liners having segments of material radially distributed along the liner present distinct advantages over the prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,830 discusses the advantages of the judicious location of certain metallic or non-metallic segments within the parent liner. The present invention describes a method of distributing segments of material throughout the liner in a radial manner. Liners of this type will prove to be extremely valuable as a research tool to determine the distribution and flow of material in a collapsing and stretching liner. Knowledge of the distribution of material in the liner would enable the performance and/or lethality of the shaped charge jet to be enhanced by the judicious placement of key metallic or non-metallic segments throughout the liner.
It therefore may be appreciated that there is a great need for a method to fabricate shaped charge liners having segments of material radially disposed throughout the liner.